1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the technical field of aerial cable transport installations, notably cars or seats, suspended by coupling clamps to the cable, said clamps being disengageable.
More particularly, the invention relates to a process enabling both the storage and the taking from stock of the vehicles of an aerial cable installation, this process being implemented during the installation shutdowns, for example during a slack period or at the end of the day.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
The storage of the vehicles of an aerial cable transport entails numerous technical problems that have been variously approached in the prior art.
EP-369.981 describes a storage installation for cable cars. This installation comprises a storage rail pivoting around a horizontal shaft, the seats or cars motion being induced, along the storage rail, by the gravitational force.
The storage zone described in EP-369.981 occupies a considerable ground surface, is thus cumbersome nearby an end station of the installation, and is expensive.
FR-2.598.373 describes an arrangement of transfer tracks and/or garage tracks for a disengageable car or chair lift. If this arrangement avoids the bumping between vehicles while maintaining a minimal space between them, it induces an encumbered space and an additional cost for the transport installation.
FR-2.654.052 describes a process for the starting-up and shutting-down of an aerial cable transport installation.
Contrarily to most of the installations known in the prior art, the installation described in FR-2.654.052 is devoid of a large size shed adjacent to the departure and arrival stations for the storage of cars or seats on branch tracks.
These sheds are expensive, notably in mountainous or rough regions.
In the facility described in FR-2.654.052, the cars are stored in the stations, using a part of the launching device and a part of the deceleration device, each of these devices comprising two sections, one of which being the storage one.
The installation described in FR-2.654.052 has many drawbacks.
In particular, the storage zone of the cars is of limited dimensions since it is necessary, according to this facility, to maintain an acceleration or a deceleration zone to reduce the speed of the vehicle.
Moreover, the utilization of motors synchronized to the speed of the cable which transmit the movement to the pneumatics which have between them a speed ratio of 1, and the fact that the storage zone functions step by step to enable the storage of cars at regular intervals generates a substantial investment both in electronic and mechanical management equipment.